UPDATE 4-Banks give Toronto stocks a hefty boost

TORONTO, April 18 (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's
main index finished the week strongly higher on Friday, spurred
by financial issues, which rallied on hope that the worst of
the credit crisis is over.

All of the market's major banks pushed higher in the wake
of quarterly results from U.S. financial institutions that gave
investors confidence they were getting closer to wiping the
slate clean by taking writeoffs and cutting costs.

Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO was up C$1.61, or 3.5 percent,
at C$47.50, and Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO gained 71 Canadian
cents, or 1.5 percent, to C$48.06. Overall the sector climbed
2.1 percent.

Levente Mady, a broker at MF Global Canada in Vancouver,
said that as well as the banks' results, measures taken by the
U.S. Federal Reserve to ease tightness in credit markets are
beginning to sooth investors' nerves.

"Essentially, what's happening is the market is settling
down a little bit in terms of reassurances from the Fed and
other central banks ... that they're making sure that they
provide adequate liquidity," said Mady.

The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE closed up 121.56
points, or 0.86 percent, at 14,237.06, with all but two of its
10 main groups higher.

The benchmark rose 4.1 percent on the week, pushing past
the 14,000-mark and rising to highs not seen since early
November.
Continued...